Many of you may not know that in order to be accepted as a speaker at the FileMaker Developers Conference, you have to submit a “speaker demo,” which is a short self-made video of yourself presenting some topic.

I had to do this for the first time last year, and my demo video was a bit of a hit among my Phoenix FileMaker friends. I wasn’t accepted as a speaker in 2007, so maybe the powers that be didn’t think I had exactly the right idea.

Anyway, by popular demand, I’m posting the video here for all to see. I think you’ll agree it is packed with useful tips and tricks for potential DevCon presenters.

I will now go into hiding until the blistering burn of embarrassment has dissipated from my cheeks. I promise we’ll post less frivolous content shortly. DevCon always leaves us a little giddy.

PS: If you are reading this, and you and I talked at our booth at length about Javascript widget libraries, and your first name is unusual, and you came to my rails session and provided good feedback, and you have dark hair and some facial hair of some kind, then chances are good you’re the guy I’m thinking of who I lost track of just before getting your contact info. Fill out the Contact Us form and let me know how to get in touch with you.

If only the decision makers were able to find the guts to make selections based on past performance and reviews, (basic human intuition stuff) instead of utilizing bureaucracy derived from a sense of “being fair”, (when was the last time life was fair?) then they would likely find more support from the type of speakers they wanted to showcase.

One of the very reasons I stopped submitting to FileMaker for speaking at Devcon is because they started treating everyone like they never knew them – quite silly when you wouldn’t do this to a real person in real life. Only when you have corporate bureaucracy to hide behind. Of course, I’m sure the committee has a good reason for not taking the common sense route. If everyone submits a video then they can see if a presenter gets worse as the years progress.

Maybe I’ll get over my distaste for the “new process” in my older years and submit for next year.

I have not noticed this ecellent video until Audrey Akhavan refreshed a link to it on Twitter. Thanks, Geoff! What a nice proof of what I say about experts not presenting at DevCon in my recent video “Why Attend DevCon” (http://youtu.be/tcShgOsYG3I).
Looking forward to see you in San Diego…

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